Acetylene-gas generator.



No. 683,96l. Patented net. s, Ism.

T..W. MARSDENL AGETY'LENE GAS GENERATOR. (Application mea m 22, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Tm: cams persas co. Pnmnvurna.. msnmcvou. D, c.

NTTED STATES PATENT Osmosi THOMAS W. MARSDEN, OF ILION, NEV YORK.

ACETYLENE-GAS GENERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 683,961, datedOcto'loei.` 8, 1901.

Application filed December 22,1899. Serial No. 741,337. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. MARsDEN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Ilion, Herkimer county, New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Acetylene-GasGenerators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an acetylene-gas generator; and it consists inthe mechanism hereinafter pointed out and claimed.

The object of my invention is to overcome the hitherto-establishedobjections to the submerging, dipping, or spraying system of treatingcalcium carbids in the process of generating acetylene gas.

It is an established fact that there are more or less serious faults inthe existing methods of submerging, dipping,-or spraying calcium carbidsin the manufacture of acetylene gas. The carbids contain a more or lessquantity of foreign substances, which operate in a deleterious mannerupon the gas generated.

The after-development in either of the processes heretofore referred tois great, as more Water is always taken up by the carbid when it issubmerged, dipped, or sprayed than corresponds to the consumption eitherby capillary attraction or by the affinity of the carbid for the water.Another serious disadvantage in' the treatment of the carbids heretoforereferred to is the development of Vexcessive heat, as in generating gasfrom the carbid under the processes already stated the carbid at thecontact-point becomes sufciently incandescent, (red-hot,) due to theaccumulative development of heat in the mass, While the surroundingparts or remaining portions of the mass may not be above 115o to 125Fahrenheit. The eect of the increase of heat is to interfere with thequality of the gas developed, as Well as to increase the tendency to thestoppage of the pipes by an excessive development. These troubles aremore particularly found in the submerging or dipping process, while inthe generators using the spraying process the body of the carbid issprayed, steam and gas are generated, and the whole surface undergoesmore or less decomposition, and if the Water runs on the carbid in astream an excess of water is presented, and if there is insuflicientwater to decompose the entire mass of carbid, yet enougli to cause acontinuous after-development, a rise of temperature is inevitable.

The purpose of my invention is to minimize the troubles heretoforepointed out and to arrest the excessive development by means of a iiux,preferably kerosene-oil, Which has no affinity with the gases containedin the carbid and whichA acts, so to speak, as a blanket and follows theupper surface of the water,therebyarrestin g excessive development inthe carbid above the Water-line.v By this process the Water comes incontact with the carbid in the bottom of the crate in an invertedair-tight chamber located within the Water-tank.

My invention has for its object the application of Water with oil orother light substances which will float upon the water within thegenerator, which has ain inverted chamber open at the bottom andgas-tight in its body and top.

Having described the general purposes of my invention, I will nowproceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings, in Which-Figure 1 is a vertical section on line A B of Fig.2, broken linesindicating parts removed. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of my generatoron line C D of Fig. 1.

Having described my invention with reference to the figures, I will nowproceed to describe the same with reference to details of construction,in which similar numerals of reference refer to corresponding parts inboth views.

Numeral 1 is a Water-tank, circular in horizontal cross-section, open atthe top, with an inverted conical-shaped bottom 2, provided with anoutlet 3, controlled by stop-cock 4: and supported on legs 5. I providethe tank at the bottom with rotatable cleaning-fingers 6, rigidlysecured to shaft 7, supporting crankhandle S, by means of which whenproperly and suitably packed the cleaning-iingers 6 can be rotated inthe bottom of the tank for loosening the sediment of lime and othernonsoluble portions of the carbid which drop into the bottom of the tankin the process of developing gas. I provide at the top of Watertank 1 anoverflow-pipe D for permitting the ICO overflow of water when there isanexcess of pressure. Inside of the water-tanl;, either on or adjacent toits wall, I mount one or more generating-tubes o, a d. The generating-tubes in this instance are supported on the inside of the wallof the water-tank by rivets or bolts, (not shown,) which in thisinstance pass through the wall of the water-tank and thegenerating-tube, which are held in position by bolts or rivets, (notthought necessary to be shown,) and for admitting the circulation ofwater around the generating-tube I pret'- erably interpose blocks orstrips 10 10 10,with water-chambers between them running verticallybetween the inner wall of the watertank and the outward wall ot` thegenerating tube. The generating-tube is open at the bottom 1l, Fig. 1,to admit the water, the top of which in the water-tank is at 12, Fig. 1.The body of the generating-tank is preferably made water and gas tight.The top of the generating-tanks extend above the top of the water-tank 1and are each provided with a metal ring 13, secured to the wall ofgenerating-tube CL, as best illustrated in Fig. 1 at a',

the ring being held to the body of the generating-tube, so as to make agas-tight joint. On the upper face of ring 13 I provide a curveprojection 14, turned true for receiving cover 15, which is turned on atrue circle on its inner face at 1G, so that when placed over theprojecting surface 14 ot" the ring it can be crowded down through theoperation of the screw, so as to make a gas-tight joint. In the top ofthe cover I provide screw-socket 17, which receives screw 18, which isoperated by handle 19, the screw engaging screwthread opening 2O in bail2l, adjustably secured to the ring at 22. (Illustrated in Fig. 1.) Byswinging into the position shown at the right 'of Fig. 1 and turning thescrew downI into contact with the cover it is forced down onto the truecircle, thereby making a` gas-tight joint without packing, except theground or true contact surfaces between the ring and the cover. Insideof the metal ring 13 I provide projecting shoulder or lug 23 forsnpporting crate-ring 24:.

In crate-ring 2-1 I insert a series, ot' wires 25, rigidly secured attheir top in the ring and depending in a vertical position and inclinedor deflected outwardly at the bottom to prevent clogging of the carbidsin the crate and at the lower extremity formed in fiat surface 2G at thebottom of the crate, as illustrated in Fig. 1. By this arrangement aquantity of carbid is always presented to the action of the water in thebottom of the crate, and, if desirable, where the wires cross at the bottom, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the wires may be soldered or heldtogether at intersections 27, and, if desired, they can be supportedfrom bulging by supporting wire 28 between the extremities of the wirecrate. B y this arrangement the carbid will feed down to the bottorn ofthe crate for the operation ot' the water without clogging'. Theencircling wire 2S can be soldered or otherwise secured to the out-erside of the wires for preventing the carbid coming in contact, andthereby failing to feed down where the action o't the water can operateupon the carbid. The carbid-crate is removable from the generating-tubeby 'removing the cover and lifting the crate out, when the same can becharged with carbids and reinserted, or the carbids can be placed in thecrate while in its position in the generating-tube by removing thecover. This, however, should not be done when the watertank is filled orpartially tilled with water; but by drawing the water down it will notcomein contact with the crate. The crate may be filled while hanging inposition in the generating-tubes- For arresting the excessive generationof gases andv to protect the carbid in the crate from generating gasabove the contact line with the water I insert between water-lines l2 inthe generatingtube and top line 12 a flux, which in this instancepreferably consists of kerosene-oil, or any other oil or floatingsubstance which will not decompose the carbid, may be used. I insert thekeroseneoil by opening cock 30 and by pouring the oil intoIfunnel-opening3l, which allows the oil t0 pass into generating-tubethrough pipe-opening 32, so that the oil or floating flux is on top.

of the water 'in the generating-tube, as illust-rated in Fig. 1. I/Vheua suiiicient quantity of oil is inserted through this avenue, thestopcock 30.v is turned crosswise, so as to shut off the opening, andwhen it is desirable to recharge the carbid-crate or clean the watertankthe oil may be drawn out by turning stop-cock into the position shown inFi". 1 when the oil will pass through pipe 3i out into` the receptacle,where it can be saved and reused;l but when the oil is being insertedstop-cock 33 should be turned crosswise and outlet-pipe 3i closed. Thequantity of oil or other floating iiux which does not produce gas whenin contact with the carbids may be inserted in, more or less quantitiesin the generating-tube, even to the extent of lling it nearly to itstop, without interfering with the operation of the generator. As thewater is brought in contact with the bottom of the carbid-crate gas isgenerated within the gen'- crating-tube and passes up through the oil oriioating flux into the upper part of the generatingtube, which performsthe function in part of the gas-holder, and is admitted into gas-exitpipes b Z) Z2, which convey the gas into supply-pipe c, Fig. 2. are eachcontrolled by stop-cock d d d, which will enable the operator to shutoii in one of the generatingtubes, so that one or all of thegenerating-tubes may be operated at the will of the operator. Aftercharging the crate with carbid and replacing the cover and getting thegeneratingtube in position for use more or less air necessarily will befound Pipes b l) b IIO between the top of the crate, and to get rid ofthis part-ially gas and air combined, so that it will not be carriedinto supply-pipe c, I provide burners f f f, controlled by a key, andafter charging the generating-tube with carbids in the crate I open thekey to gas-burner j' and burn out the air and gas from the upper portionof the generating-tube until the gas burns steadily, and then I closethe key in burnerf and the gas is then ready for use in the.supply-pipe.

For determining the amount of oil or floating flux in the generatingtubeI provide glass gage 85, which opens at 36 36 into the generating-tube,so that it will always indicate the height of iiux and water or water ineach generating-tube.

By locating the generating-tubes inside of the water-tank and using oilor floating iiux in the generating-tube the heat is reduced to theminimum, as each generating-tube is in side of the water, where it formsa complete jacket surrounding each tube, and thereby making the partsentirely safe and free from an excessive generation of heat, and as thegas is generated it passes through the oil or iioating flux inside ofthe generating tube, thereby purifying the same, and as the pressureincreases in the generating-tube the water and iiux are both forceddownward in the generating-tube, thereby driving the water out ofcontact with the carbid, when the carbid is instantly covered by theflux and decomposition arrested and the insoluble portions of the carbidremaining are freed from the bottom of the carbid-crate, the meshes ofwhich are from one-half to one inch in the clear, thereby preventing theaccumulation of lime and other nongas-producing substances which arealways present in the carbid when undergoing process of decomposi tion,so that the bottom of the carbid-crate which acts as the crate is alwayskept free, which is a point of great advantage in an acetylene-gasgenerator.

It will be readily understood that changes and modifications may be madein my invention without departing from its spirit or the beneiicialpurposes attained by its use.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is`

1. In combination, a water-tank, several separated parallelgenerator-tubes secured to said tank and depending into the watertherein, each tube having an open lower end and a top cover,gas-take-off pipes from the upper ends of said tubes, removableopen-work carbid-crates in the tubes, each tube having a crate suspendedfrom its top therein, pipes extending from the exterior of the tank intothe generator-tubes, respectively, above the lower ends thereof, andprovided with Valves, for the introduction of an oil-flux into and thedischarge thereof from any generatortube, substantially as described.

2. In combination, a water-tank, a vertical generator-tube securedtherein and having a lower open end sealed by the water in the tank,removable means for sealing the-upper end of the tube, a gas-take-offpipe from the tube, a carbid-crate depending into the tube below thenormal water-line therein, and a valved oil-supply pipe extendingthrough the tank and tube to a point above the normal water-line for theintroduction of oil into the generator-tube so that the oil floats onthe water in the tube and coats the carbid pre-V venting unduedecomposition thereof and the water and oil rise and fall together,substantially as described.

3. In combination, a water-tank, a generator-tube supported therein withits lower open end sealed by the water therein, removable sealing meansfor the upper end of said tube, a carbid-crate in the tube projectingbelow the normal water-line,an oil-supply pipe from the exterior of thetank and opening into said tube, said pipe provided with a valved dis#charge for the withdrawal of oil in the tube, and with a vertical valvedoil-supply funnel,` substantially as described.

4. In combination, a water-tank, a genera-l tor-tube supported thereinand having itsv open lower end sealed by the water therein and providedwith top sealing means, a car# bid-crate in the tube and depending belowthe normal water-line therein, an oil-supply pipe opening into said tubeabove the normal water-line therein, and the exterior oil-sight gage atits lower end opening into said tube below the lower end of said crate,and at its upper end opening into said tube above the water therein,substantially as described.

5. In an acetylene-gas-generating machine, the combination, of awater-tank, a generating-tank into which the water from the water-tankis free to iiow, a carbid-holder supporting the carbid in the generatorbelow the normal water-line in the generator,an oilsupply pipe extendingfrom the exterior of the water-tank through the wall thereof and throughthe wall of said tube and opening into the interior of the tube todischarge oil into the generator above the watersurrounding andpartially inclosing the carbid above the water-line for partiallyarresting undue development of the carbid above the waterline,substantially as set forth for the purposes stated.

6. In combination, a water-tank having a closed bottom, several separategeneratortubes independently supported in said tank having lower openends, independent means for sealing the top of each tube, carbid-cratessupported in each tube, pipes for taking o the gas from said tubes, andindependent oilsupply pipes opening from the exterior of the tank intoeach tube for discharging oil into any tube onto the water therein,substantially as described.

7. In combination, a water-tank, a generator-tube therein having an openlower end bereg 10W the normal Water-line of the tank, removable sealingmeans for the upper end of said tube,meftus to take oi the gas from saidtube, au open-Work carbid-crate supported within the tube and projectingbelow the normal weter-line therein, and. a valved oil-supply to andoil-discharge from said tube from the exterior of the tank to :t pointWithin said tube above the normal water-line thereof, substai-4 tiallyas described. 1o

Signed by me et Ilion, New York, this 18th day of December, 1899.

THOS. W. MARSDEN. XVituesses:

J. M. WILLIAMS, CARRIE E. JEPSON;

